We had so much fun the other day when we created our magical rice bottles, and there was some extra colored rice left that was waiting to be used. So what's a mom to do with all of that colored rice?
Well... I've mentioned before that my little guys love playing outside, and one of my 3 year old's favorite activities is playing in the dirt with his trucks. As soon this snow melts and Spring rolls around, he will be out there again digging for hours and covered in dirt and mud. As long as he's happy, that's fine with me.
He recently got a Caterpillar remote control digger for his Birthday. But, how much fun is a digger, if you can't dig? So, I pulled out a medium sized storage container, and put some green felt on the bottom, which makes it a better surface to drive the digger. And, poured in the left over blue and green rice, which was dyed with food coloring a few days earlier.
What a hit!
If you have a girl who is digger-less, you could still use this idea but make it a beach for Barbie. But, you don't really need a theme at all. You can just use some cups and spoons and let your child play in with the rice like they would with sand.
This is such a great indoor alternative to outdoor digging. Plus, it's heck of a lot cleaner that an indoor sand-box. Will you get grains of rice out of the 'rice box'? Yes. But it is so worth it. My kids have already spent hours playing with this, and we've only created it about a day ago.
It would also be a great activity for a breastfeeding mama who needs to entertain her little one while she's nursing. You could save the 'rice box' as a special treat that your little one can only use when you're nursing the baby. Try it!
This is such an inexpensive & easy indoor activity for kids.
Here's a quick how-to-guide to dye your rice with food coloring
